Hello Everyone! Thanks for such an awesome response to our intro! Currently everything you read is written by yours truly, Alex. As time goes by, you may see a smattering of words written by Tom. His skill in photo journalism is outstanding, and not to be dismissed. We will be on the road a long time. But we're all familiar with this kind of trip, so you know we won't be posting everyday. I do however intend to keep everyone entertained, as I enjoy this just as much as you do! As for now, HERE WE GO!

Holy Shit! What to expect? We're not sure, but we're excited for it. There is much to be considered, but little to be certain of. Tom's bike is packed. Mine is not. I'm doing this instead. Will my tent fit on my bike? Yes. Where? Not sure yet. My sleeping bag fits well in my side bag. But it takes up so much room. My cooking things and tools, and patch kit, and misc electrical all fits well in one bag. Two bags left. Will I have enough room? Tom has two 35liter side bags and a 25 liter top case. 90 liters. All of my bags are 25 liters. A total of 75. He has room for other things then bare essentials. I don't. Am I jealous. A little bit. Worried? Not so much.

My shit spread around my room. Packing ensues.

Damn these spare tubes. They sure do take up a lot of room. Why don't I just leave them behind, and bring lot's of patches.... Oh yeah, now I remember. Because shit like this happens, and you CAN'T patch it.

How many of these knives do I want to bring? Two? Three? One leatherman, one pocket knife, one camp knife? All in one? Combo? Where the hell is my outlet converter. Fuck. Missing. Good thing I wired a powerlet to my bike and have enough USB cable to hang a hammock let along charge my camera/phone.

Which backpack to bring. Damnit, my new one doesn't roll very well, but that old Jansport is a ghetto piece of crap. Wait, it served you well last time you were in South America. Ha. Yah. Nearly 3 years ago.

Good thing I don't need much clothes. Only half a pelican case. 1.5 to go. Minus .5 for netbook, charging cables, spares. Only one to go. Minus .35 for my sleeping bag, .25 for my sleeping pad..... Shit. I'm running out of room.

Oh that's right. I have a waterproof roll bag. YES! More space... For now. I hope my motorcycle isn't overloaded. I hope it's not bogged down. Good thing I have a 14 tooth sprocket... Jesus. I'm all over the place.

Tom is calm, cool, and collected. ON THE OUTSIDE.

He's searching ahead. What can I bring. What do I not need. He's not worried. He makes decisions fast. It's good. It's easy. But he wonders. He chews his lip. But he thinks good and hard, and situation handled. Me? I wait till the last minute. And succeed. No worries either way. We're a good team. 2 months living together in Juneau, Alaska, One month in the same room. 10 years in the boy scouts. We have this covered.

We leave in 7.5 hours. I'd better finish packing. More of this to come. Hopefully with a few more scenes like this.

Ahoy! Day one is underway, and we have reached Eugene Oregon! We are staying at Toms Dads friend Toms house. Thats right, there are two Toms today. We left this morning from my parents house at 7:10. Tom was nice enough to wait on me. I was running late. Why? Because I stayed up until 3am packing, and taking care of business. Did we cover all the bases? Most likely. Well see how it goes! If you can fix it, dont worry. If you cant fix it. Dont worry.
Taking off! Were on our way! Tom is in Orange. I am Dark Green.
Onward! Time to get fuel. Haha. We were already low on fuel, and Tom had to pull over on the side of the highway in the first 10 miles. Why? His bike sputtered out and he couldnt switch to reserve fast enough. Luckily, were both have a Sena SMH10 Bluetooth communication devices. They are good for nearly 1000 yards, and work great. They are also the most weatherproof that we could find. We got a complete dual pack for a great deal from Rocket Moto in the vendor section. Check them out! Tom simply let me know he was on the side of the highway. I pulled over, and he caught up, and we rolled along. Awesome.
First fuel stop,
Daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn it. The first 180 miles was nothing but rain. The headsets held up well, and are still in great shape. Were wearing Revit Cayenne Pro Jackets and pants. They zip together, and are WATERPROOF. AWESOME. Toms wearing a pair of leather, waterproof work boots, and I have a pair of Alpinestar Web Goretex Boots. Were getting along pretty well.
First pit stop, damn rain was so dense it was like driving through fog at times. Pretty gnarly.
Being able to talk to each other is great. We can make plans on the fly, stop for fuel at good any time. Well around 11:30 we were getting hungry, and we needed fuel. Vancouver, Washington was a good spot. We made it 180 miles before Tom ran to his reserve while on the fly, and we averaged 42mpg at 65-70mph the whole way, fully loaded. Not bad in our opinions.
Time for food,
Well, after food, we made plans to stop in Eugene for the day. 300 miles in total. Its been good so far. Well Toms Dads friend Tom brew beer for a hobby. So we had some beer!
Time for Beer,
Meet Tom and Tom,
Toms gnarly Stasche
Time for Food!
Its been a good day one for us. Were enjoying our time on the road despite the crappy weather; were having a great time! Chalk 1 up for day one! Awesome!
Tomorrow wed like to ride about 5 hours. That would put us in Redding California. Can you hear that C THRU U? Wed love to take you up on that offer for a place to crash.
Onward!
--Alex